19 de janeiro de 2015

Mozambique: New government named

The new president, Filipe Nyusi, named his government on Saturday. There has been a stress on experience and competence, but also a careful balance of interest groups.

The key appointment is of Pedro Couto as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy. Until now deputy finance minister, he has a high reputation for integrity and independent thinking. He will be strict with both the Frelimo elite and with the gas and oil companies.

The respected former governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Adriano Maleiane, becomes Minister Economy and Finance.

Nyusi has reduced the number of ministries from 19 to 13, so that the ministries of Finance and of Planning and Development are merged into the Ministry of Economy and Finance, while Mineral Resources and Energy are also merged. These will be the two most powerful ministries.

Two key ministers retain their posts: Oldemiro Baloi as Foreign Minister and Jose Pacheco as head of an expanded Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

Pacheco is a member of the Frelimo Political Commission, and his retention is one of a number of appointments where Nyusi has carefully balanced interest groups within Frelimo. Nyusi was seen as a protege of Guebuza and there have been fears that Guebuza would continue to pull the strings. But the new Prime Minister is Carlos Agostinho do Rosario. He was Minister of Agriculture under President Joaquim Chissano in the late 1990s, and also governor of Zambezia, but was effectively exiled by Guebuza as Mozambican ambassador to India. Couto is also sometimes seen as being closer to Chissano than Guebuza.

Two Guebuza allies are appointed ministers. Carlos Mesquita, formerly head of Cornelder de Mocambique, the company that runs the port of Beira and is part owned by Guebuza, becomes Minister of Transport and Communications. Businessman Celso Correia, founder of the Insitec group and linked to Guebuza, becomes Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development.

Nyeleti Mondlane, the daughter of the founder and first President of Frelimo, Eduardo Mondlane. becomes Deputy Foreign Minster. Maria Pelembe, general secretary of the Frelimo-linked Mozambican Women’s Organisation (OMM), becomes Deputy Minister of Veterans’ Affairs. Adelaide Amurane, who becomes Chief of Staff of the President’s Office (with ministerial rank), has business links in the north of Mozambique, another important Frelimo interest group.

The new government has a stress on technical expertise and experience. Luis Jorge Ferrao, who won praise as Rector (Vice-Chancellor) of Lurio University for building a successful state university in the north in just eight years, is named Minister of Education and Human Development. Prominent linguist Armindo Ngunga is his deputy. The new Minister of a merged Ministry of Culture and Tourism is Beira painter Silva Dunduru.

Two ministries criticised for corruption and poor performance, Environment and Tourism, have both been merged into other ministries and their ministers not re-appointed.

Technicians are appointed in several places. Jorge Penicela Nhambiu, an associate professor of engineering and chair of the National Science and Technology Park becomes Minister of an enlarged Ministry of Science, Technology, Higher, Technical and Professional Education. The new Minister of Trade and Industry is Ernesto Tonela, who was financial director of Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa; his deputy is Omar Mitha, who was chief economist at the country’s largest commercial bank, the Millennium-BIM. Carlos Bonete Martinho, an engineer who was in charge of the rehabilitation of the dam providing water to Nacala, becomes Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources.

The Ministry of the Public Service is merged with the Ministry of State Administration, and the previous Minister of State Administration, Carmelita Namashalua retains the post. The respected former Minster for the Public Service, Vitoria Diogo, becomes Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security.

Deputy Minister of Health Dr Nazira Abdula is promoted to Minister of Health.

The new government has 5 women ministers and 8 women deputy ministers.

AIM reports and full list of the new government

AIM NEWS CAST, SATURDAY 17/1/201550115E NYUSI APPOINTS HIS GOVERNMENTMaputo, 17 Jan (AIM) - Two days after his inauguration, Mozambique’s new President, Filipe Nyusi, has appointed Carlos Agostinho do Rosario as his Prime Minister.Rosario has been Mozambican ambassador to India for many years, and was also accredited to Indonesia, Thailand and several other Asian countries. He was Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under President Joaquim Chissano in the late 1990s, and has also held the post of governor of the central province of Zambezia.Consistent with his promise to slim down the government in order to cut costs, Nyusi has merged several ministries, and reduced the number of ministers and deputy ministers. Thus the Ministries of Finance and of Planning and Development are merged into the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, under Adriano Maleiane, a former governor of the Bank of Mozambique as Minister.His deputy is Amelia Nakhare, who was the Deputy Minister of Planning and Development in the outgoing government.The Ministries of Mineral Resources and Energy are merged, and the new ministry is headed by the former deputy finance minister, Pedro Couto, a man with a reputation for integrity and independent thinking.The Ministry of the Public Service is merged with the Ministry of State Administration, and the previous Minister of State Administration, Carmelita Namashalua retains the post. The former Minster for the Public Service, Vitoria Diogo, becomes Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security.A further merger is between the Ministries of Culture and Tourism. The new Minister is the Beira painter, Silva Dunduru.Agostinho Mondlane moves from the Defence Ministry to the Fisheries Ministry, which is renamed the Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries. The new Minister of Defence is Atanasio Ntumuke, who was a commander in Frelimo’s guerrilla army during the war for Mozambican independence. In the 1980s, during the war of destabilisation waged by apartheid South Africa against Mozambique, he was commander of the First Motorized Infantry Brigade, and Military Commander of Maputo Province. Nyusi appointed Patrico Jose, formerly Vice-chancellor of the Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI) as Deputy Defence Minister.Oldemiro Baloi remains Foreign Minister, but Nyusi appointed a new deputy foreign minister, Nyeleti Mondlane, the daughter of the founder and first President of Frelimo, Eduardo Mondlane.Jose Pacheco remains Minister of Agriculture, though the name of the Ministry is expanded to Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.The new Minister of Trade and Industry is Ernesto Tonela, who was financial director of Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa, the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi. His deputy is Omar Mitha, who was chief economist at the country’s largest commercial bank, the Millennium-BIM.The deputy commander of the police force, Jaime Monteiro, is promoted to Minster of the Interior, while the former deputy minister of health, Nazira Abdula, becomes full minister.Alberto Nkutumula, formerly deputy minister of justice, becomes the Minister of Youth and Sport. His deputy, Ana Flavia de Azinheira, is a former star of the Mozambican women’s basketball team.Carlos Mesquita, formerly head of Cornelder de Mocambique, the company that runs the port of Beira, becomes Minister of Transport and Communications. Manuela Ribeiro remains Deputy Minister.Luis Ferrao, formerly the Vice-Chancellor of the publicly-owned Lurio University, is the new Minister of Education and Human Development, with prominent linguist Armindo Ngunga as his deputy.Higher education is taken out of this portfolio and merged with science and technology to form the Ministry of Science, Technology, Higher, Technical and Professional Education, under Jorge Penicela Nhambiu, an associate professor of engineering and Chairperson of the National Science and Technology Park.The Ministry for the Coordination of Environmental Affairs disappears, to be replaced by the Ministry of Land, the Environment and Rural Development. Appointed as minister is prominent businessman Celso Correia, founder of the Insitec group.The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare is renamed the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare. The former governor of Nampula province, Cidalia Chauque, becomes its Minister.The former deputy minister for the public service, Abdurremane Lino de Almeida, becomes Minister of Justice, and Constitutional and Religious Affairs. His deputy is Joaquim Verissimo, formerly governor of Zambezia province.Nyusi appointed Carlos Bonete Martinho, an engineer who was in charge of the rehabilitation of the dam providing water to the port city of Nacala, as Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources.Eusebio Lambo Gumbiwa, a former mayor of the town of Catandica, and later administrator of the central district of Vanduzi, becomes Minister of Veterans’ Affairs. His deputy, Maria Pelembe, is the general secretary of the Mozambican Women’s Organisation (OMM), which is affiliated to Frelimo.Guebuza had three ministers in the president’s office. Nyusi has scrapped two of these posts. He has appointed Adelaide Amurane, who used to be minister in the Presidency for Parliamentary and Municipal Matters, to Chief of Staff of the President’s Office (with ministerial rank).(AIM)Pf/ (816)